Germany vs Ukraine Preview
While the pressure is off Die Mannschaft as they wait to learn who will pay a visit to their homeland next year, Ukraine are gearing up for a pair of qualifiers against North Macedonia and Malta later this month.
In the wake of another bitterly disappointing group-stage exit at the World Cup, rumours naturally began to swirl surrounding the future of Germany head coach Hansi Flick, who has opted to remain in his post as he seeks to right the wrongs of their Qatar misfortunes.
Given their status as Euro 2024 hosts, Die Mannschaft have escaped the long and often arduous qualifying process and will instead compete in a series of exhibition matches to warm up for the upcoming continental championships.
Germany’s preparations began in ideal fashion with a 2-0 triumph over Peru on March 25, as Niclas Fullkrug netted twice in the first half, and the Werder Bremen striker – who will be stepping out onto his own turf next week – was also on target when Belgium made the trek to Cologne three days later.
However, the Red Devils had already stormed into a 2-0 lead within the first 10 minutes thanks to Romelu Lukaku and Yannick Carrasco’s efforts, and further strikes from Kevin De Bruyne and Serge Gnabry closed out a pulsating 3-2 win for Domenico Tedesco’s Belgium.
That beating marked a first friendly defeat in 13 matches for Germany, whose most recent reverse before that was a 2-1 loss at the hands of Austria in 2018, but they have netted in each of their last 15 exhibition matches and will also look to assert their dominance in imminent friendlies with Poland and Colombia on June 16 and 20 respectively. Germany also had a match with peru on the international friendly match after a long time with FIFA championship in 2022.
Team News and Injury
Several notable names will not be present in Germany colours for the visit of Ukraine, as Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan and Inter Milan’s Robin Gosens will vie for Champions League stardom on Saturday night and will link up with their national team at a later date this month.
Bayern Munich’s Gnabry is also unavailable due to an ankle concern, while Thomas Muller, Mario Gotze, Niklas Sule, Karim Adeyemi and Marco Reus are all absent for one reason or another.
Hansi Flick has confirmed that Germany will move forward with a three-man backline for future matches, meaning that Antonio Rudiger, Nico Schlotterbeck and Matthias Ginter could protect Marc-Andre ter Stegen here.
As for Ukraine, Arsenal left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko – who occupies a midfield role for his country – will sit out June’s fixtures with the calf problem that prematurely ended his 2022-23 season, while Club Brugge striker Roman Yaremchuk has also pulled out of the squad with a physical complaint.
However, Zinchenko’s fellow Premier League full-back Vitaliy Mykolenko is in the squad – despite missing Everton’s final three games with muscular fatigue – while two uncapped players also feature in the shape of Zorya Luhansk’s Nazariy Rusyn and Dynamo Kiev’s Vladyslav Vanat.
Both strikers should accept a spot on the bench as Artem Dovbyk leads the charge, while Chelsea’s Mykhaylo Mudryk is poised to win his 10th senior cap on the back of his difficult introduction to the Premier League.
Head-to-Head stats
Germany have an exceptional record against Ukraine and have won five out of the eight matches that have been played between the two teams, with the other three games ending in draws.
Ukraine have won only one of their last five matches in all competitions on the international stage, with their only victory during this period coming by a 5-0 scoreline against Armenia in September last year.
Germany have lost two of their last six matches in all competitions and have conceded 11 goals in these matches, keeping only one clean sheet during this period. The previous meeting between Germany and Ukraine took place in November 2020 and ended in a comfortable 3-1 victory for Die Mannschaft.
Germany have won each of their last three matches against Ukraine in all competitions and have managed to score a total of six goals in these games. Germany are set to play their 1000th international match this week – they have won 578 of their 999 games so far.
Germany vs Ukraine Prediction
Germany have a young squad at their disposal and will need to mold their starlets into seasoned international campaigners. The likes of Jamal Musiala and Youssoufa Moukouko have found their feet in the Bundesliga and could make an impact this week.
Ukraine can pack a punch on their day but have struggled against Germany in the past. Germany are the better team on paper and hold the upper hand going into this game.
